Reflection on Chapter 4 and 5 of Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology

Chapter four in Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology is about the development of American schooling. The author's state that in the first half of the 19th century, education went through a large transformation during the Industrial Revolution, in which it went from a system based on apprenticeship to universal schooling. The author's argument is that this transformation is a precursor to the Knowledge Revolution that is happening now in America, and that education needs to change again to accommodate this new revolution like it did in the 19th century.

The change in education during the 19th century has made schools what they are
today. But our society has changed so much in the last 30 years, that schools are not preparing students for the future but for the past. The facts are that most workplaces in today's society use some sort of technology, and that a lot of jobs that our students will have someday do not even exist yet in today's society, but you can bet that most if not all will be technology based. Schools are not preparing students for the 21st century, because they are refusing to see the changes that need to be made in order to do so.

The reason why school's are out of synch with technology could have a lot to do with budget, and that technology can be very expensive. But most of it has to do with the resistance to change that a lot of teachers and administration feel, and the reluctance to change a system that up until the last 20 years or so was working well. I do think that something needs to change, it is not okay for schools to be so far behind the rest of society when it comes to technology. It really is not a good thing when you have students doing tons of worksheets all day, teachers using chalkboards, and students rarely ever using any type of technology. Most students probably get to interact with technology at home, but they may not have people in their lives to teach them the proper ways to use it, or to guide them in forming safe online communities. I think that schools need to find a balance between what we have now, and allowing technology into students school experiences. I do not believe that students should only be using technology, and never interacting face to face or with their teachers, but I do think that the use of technology could really benefit all students,and that teachers should take the risk and start to implement it into their classrooms.